He did it three times in a single speech last month – falsely claiming to have witnessed a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh in 2022 (he actually visited the site more than six hours after the collapse), falsely claiming his grandfather had died just days prior to his own birth at the same hospital (his paternal grandfather died more than a year prior in another state), and again repeating a long-debunked false story about a supposed conversation with an Amtrak conductor who was deceased at the time the story would have had to take place.
In 2021 and 2022, he falsely claimed to have been arrested during a civil rights protest (he had previously said merely that an officer had taken him home from a protest), falsely claimed he “used to drive an 18-wheeler” (the White House said he once had a job driving a different vehicle, a school bus), falsely claimed to have visited the Pittsburgh synagogue where worshippers were killed in a 2018 mass shooting (he had spoken to its rabbi by phone but had not gone), falsely claimed to have visited Iraq and Afghanistan as president (he made repeated visits as a senator and vice president but not as president), told a false story involving a late relative and the Purple Heart, and falsely described his interactions decades ago with late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
Dude gets back from a whirlwind Asian trip, with a 12 hour flight home, and accidentally said a day later instead of a week later.
Talk about a slow news day.
Hmm. Most of these seem like fairly minor inaccuracies. Some are more inaccurate, but all seem to have some bearing on real events he was involved in. I’m not really seeing an intentional weaving of untruth like I see in many other politicians at this time. I more see the unscripted memory recall of an older person.
Be probably just meant to say “week” instead of “day.” Such a minor screw up. I do shit like that all the time, and I’m half his age.
The Amtrak conductor one is pretty bad.
https://apnews.com/article/ap-fact-check-biden-amtrak-e79af0cd7015ea3d559609817cceb144
AP FACT CHECK: Biden tale of Amtrak conductor doesn’t add up
From the article:
“I apologize because some have heard this,” Biden told a crowd Monday in New Jersey, starting up a story he has repeated in various forms at least five times, dating back to the 2020 campaign.
“I swear to God. True story,” he said Monday, for emphasis.
THE FACTS: The tale as Biden spins it is wrong. Negri could not have had that conversation because he was already deceased by the time Biden logged 1.2 million miles on Air Force Two.
It’s plausible that Biden logged 1.2 million train miles as vice president by early 2016, based on accounts around the time by Biden and David Lienemann, the vice president’s official photographer. But Negri had long retired as an Amtrak conductor, in 1993, and died in May 2014.
i see it as more of an example of why we shouldnt want septuagenarian or octogenarian politicians of either party.
It’s called confabulation, and it’s not “normal” aging, it’s a sign of memory loss. Dementia is a common cause.
I find it staggering that the democratic party are going with him as their presidential candidate. Feels like a mix of the sunken cost fallacy and a fear of turning away from someone who is currently beating Trump in the polls.
Arguably Trump confabulates too but it gets dismissed as he’s been a liar for so long no one notices.
2024 is looking like an election with two elderly men with dementia vying for the whitehouse, and another one as senate leader. That’s how extreme US politics has become - you could put up a literal monkey now and as long as he’s in the right party he would get nearly 1/2 the vote.
It’s all a sign of how dangerously broken the US electoral system is.
I hate it. I’ll still vote for the puppet with dimentia that’s commanded by Democrats over the one commanded by Republicans if that ends up being my only choice to fend off fascists.
They’re not even puppeting him very well if they’re letting him make all these inaccurate statements in speeches.
Considering the absolute bullshit his most likely opponent says on an hourly basis, this seems minor.
Grandpa forgets details sometimes. Not his fault.
Dude just zipped around Asia in a couple days then took a 12 hour flight home. Is it really that weird that he accidentally said the next day instead of the next week?
I’m half his age, and travel like that makes me completely incoherent.
Not just grandpa. How much of what we remember of 9/11 is accurate? How can we be sure? Is anyone fact checking our memories?
Ok
Why should I care
